Making Weekend Classes Work

Despite the huge problems facing the Los Angeles Unified School District, a weekend program at Mulholland Middle School in Van Nuys illustrates how new and relatively simple approaches can make schools work better for students and parents. A big part of that includes giving children the chance to excel and helping parents get more involved in their youngster’s education.

The first of its kind in LAUSD, the Mulholland program is paid for by a grant from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Project, or LAMP, an ambitious partnership among business leaders, politicians and educators to help school reform efforts. With a grant of $300,000 a year for five years, administrators and teachers at Mulholland hope to create a weekend learning environment more casual and personal than during the week. Classes are capped at 21 students, giving teachers more flexibility in tailoring lessons. Already, the program, which serves elementary and junior high schools feeding Birmingham, Reseda and Cleveland high schools, is full with 300 students.

Initially, the three-hour Saturday sessions will focus on preventing students from falling behind in the basics of reading and math. Over time, though, administrators want to expand course offerings to include enrichment programs in the arts. A similar, although smaller, program at Mulholland has been in place for three years with good results. The work of students enrolled in the Saturday classes improved noticeably. As part of the expanded program, parents are required to put in an hour each week on campus--either by volunteering during the week or by taking Saturday classes themselves. The goal: to get parents more involved in their child’s education.

The purpose of LAMP was to help reform efforts in public education by giving more control to clusters of schools to tailor programs to their individual communities. The Mulholland program is a step in that direction. By showing students and parents that school can actually be a pretty fun place to spend a Saturday, the program gives families the opportunity to open new doors together.